More Aberdeen than Celtic stars in PFA Team of the Year

CONOR MATCHETT

PFA Scotland’s Teams of the Year have been announced with more Aberdeen than Celtic players picked in the chosen 11 for the Premiership side.

Player of the Year nominee Jonny Hayes, right-back Shay Logan, and midfielders Kenny McLean and Graeme Shinne all make the cut from Pittodrie. Player of the Year nominee and league top scorer Leigh Griffiths and Young Player of the Year nominee Kieran Tierney are the only players to be included in the Celtic Park contingent.

Dundee have also got more representatives in the team than Ronny Deila’s club, with Player of the Year nominees Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart both included, as well as goalkeeper Scott Bain. Also in the starting 11 are defenders Alim Ozturk of Hearts, and Andrew Davies of Ross County.

There is no place in the team for some of this season’s top performers with Celtic’s Tom Rogic, Hearts’ Igor Rossi and Motherwell’s Lewis Moult all being denied a spot.

The Championship team is unsurprisingly dominated by Rangers, Falkirk and Hibernian, with Rangers taking up almost half of the chosen eleven. With ten goals and 17 assists from full-back, James Tavernier is included, alongside teammate and captain Lee Wallace, midfielder Jason Holt, top-scorer Martyn Waghorn, and Young Player of the Year nominee Barrie McKay.

McKay’s fellow Young Player of the Year nominees Jason Cummings and John McGinn are included in the team, alongside Hibs colleague Darren McGregor. With the race for second place in the Championship coming down to the final weekend, current holders of second spot Falkirk have also gained recognition with goalkeeper Danny Rogers, Peter Grant and John Baird all included.

Further down the leagues, joint top-scorers Faissal el Bakhtaoui of Dunfermline and Rory McAllister of Peterhead are included, with champions Dunfermline Athletic dominating the rest of the picks from League One with four players in the team. Peterhead keeper Graeme Smith also received a nomination, alongside Nicky Devlin and Paddy Boyle of Ayr United, Michael Dunlop of Albion Rovers, and Liam Watt of Airdrie.

The League Two team of the year includes East Fife player-manager Gary Naysmith, alongside teammate and top-scorer Nathan Austin.